Newcomer Lorde enters the L.A. spotlight

Lorde performs at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on Tuesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER

In a year when the pop charts have turned into a race to see who can release the most overproduced track, Lorde’s “Royals” has taken the opposite tack. Spare, catchy, implacably serious and with a non-mercenary attitude, it’s a fresh, left-field hit.

That it’s written and performed by Ella Yelich-O’Connor, a 16-year-old girl from New Zealand, the daughter of poet who first attracted attention through her Soundcloud release, has made it even more intriguing. She’s Lana Del Rey with a better back-story.

Could anyone live up to such a build-up? Her sold-out performance Tuesday night at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood (followed by an encore performance Wednesday at the Belasco Theater in downtown Los Angeles) showcased an impressively self-possessed and talented young woman. But in many ways she is still a 16-year-old girl.

Like her opening song, “Bravado,” Lorde’s hour-long set was a mix of shyness and pluck. She was “raised up to be admired” but can’t talk to the boy she pines for. For every intriguing lyric, there are lines that fall back on high-school clichés (the class clown and beauty queen of “Tennis Court”) or a repeated “I like you” and a tightly-stretched admission that “people are talking.”

She does pull from an interesting range of sounds, however. Backed by only a drummer and keyboardist, her approach can come across like a young-adult version of Suicide, with massive digital harmonies straight out of Bon Iver, plus touches of hip-hop. On stage, that plays out both in Lorde’s voice – a pliant instrument that can growl with unexpected maturity – and also in her minimalist production value, which keeps the singer in shadows, mostly backlit, with just a few low-wattage lamps surrounding her with warm, highly diffused light.

Given her thick, wild mane and long, flowing black dress with sheer mesh sleeves, she looked Tuesday night like an artsy high school goth girl. When not writhing in place, she stalked the stage like an extra from Cats, even forming her hands into a claw and slashing the air.

It can get a little tiring, and her debut album, the unfortunately titled Pure Heroine, is a mixed bag, as her songs have two modes: spare and moody or bombastic shouts. The former is more effective: ”Royals,” played near the end of the evening, is easily her most impressive song, while her metronomic cover of the Replacements’ “Swinging Party” works in spite of itself.

But left unanswered is what happens next. Will she be able to develop and mature in public? Or will she, like so many young girls who achieve stardom at an early age, be shunted off to the side when the next younger girl comes along?

Lorde performs at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on Tuesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Lorde performs at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on Tuesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Lorde performs at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on Tuesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Fans watch as Lorde performs at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on Tuesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Lorde fans have fun at Tuesday night's Fonda Theatre show in Hollywood. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Lorde fans have fun at Tuesday night's Fonda Theatre show in Hollywood. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Lorde performs at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on Tuesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Lorde performs at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on Tuesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Lorde performed at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on Tuesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Lorde fans have fun at Tuesday night's Fonda Theatre show in Hollywood. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Until the Ribbon Breaks opened for Lorde at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on Tuesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Until the Ribbon Breaks opened for Lorde at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on Tuesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Until the Ribbon Breaks opened for Lorde at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on Tuesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER

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